Day 134 of 365

¹Balaam said to Balak, "Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams."

²Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on every altar a bull and a ram.

³Balaam said to Balak, "Stand by your burnt offering, and I will go: perhaps the Lord will come to meet me; and whatever he shows me I will tell you." He went to a bare height.

⁴God met Balaam: and he said to him, "I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on every altar."

⁵The Lord put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak."

⁶He returned to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab.

⁷He took up his parable, and said, "From Aram has Balak brought me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the East. Come, curse Jacob for me. Come, defy Israel.

⁸How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? How shall I defy whom the Lord has not defied?

⁹For from the top of the rocks I see him. From the hills I see him. Behold, it is a people that dwells alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

¹⁰Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous! Let my last end be like his!"

¹¹Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them altogether."

¹²He answered and said, "Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord puts in my mouth?"

¹³Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place, where you may see them; you shall see but the utmost part of them, and shall not see them all: and curse me them from there."

¹⁴He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

¹⁵He said to Balak, "Stand here by your burnt offering, while I meet over there."

¹⁶The Lord met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and say this."

¹⁷He came to him, and behold, he was standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. Balak said to him, "What has the Lord spoken?"

¹⁸He took up his parable, and said, "Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, you son of Zippor.

¹⁹God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?

²⁰Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed, and I can't reverse it.

²¹He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. The Lord his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them.

²²God brings them out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox.

²³Surely there is no enchantment with Jacob; Neither is there any divination with Israel. Now it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What has God done!

²⁴Behold, the people rises up as a lioness, As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain."

²⁵Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all."

²⁶But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell you, saying, 'All that the Lord speaks, that I must do?'"

²⁷Balak said to Balaam, "Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse me them from there."

²⁸Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.

²⁹Balaam said to Balak, "Build me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bulls and seven rams."

³⁰Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.

¹When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at the other times, to meet with omens, but he set his face toward the wilderness.

²Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the Spirit of God came on him.

³He took up his parable, and said, "Balaam the son of Beor says, the man whose eye was closed says;

⁴he says, who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down, and having his eyes open:

⁵How goodly are your tents, Jacob, and your tents, Israel!

⁶As valleys they are spread forth, as gardens by the riverside, as aloes which the Lord has planted, as cedar trees beside the waters.

⁷Water shall flow from his buckets. His seed shall be in many waters. His king shall be higher than Agag. His kingdom shall be exalted.

⁸God brings him out of Egypt. He has as it were the strength of the wild ox. He shall eat up the nations his adversaries, shall break their bones in pieces, and pierce them with his arrows.

⁹He couched, he lay down as a lion, as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Everyone who blesses you is blessed. Everyone who curses you is cursed."

¹⁰Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, and, behold, you have altogether blessed them these three times.

¹¹Therefore now flee you to your place! I thought to promote you to great honor; but, behold, the Lord has kept you back from honor."

¹²Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not also tell your messengers who you sent to me, saying,

¹³'If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can't go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own mind. I will say what the Lord says'?

¹⁴Now, behold, I go to my people: come, I will inform you what this people shall do to your people in the latter days."

¹⁵He took up his parable, and said, "Balaam the son of Beor says, the man whose eye was closed says;

¹⁶he says, who hears the words of God, knows the knowledge of the Most High, and who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, and having his eyes open:

¹⁷I see him, but not now. I see him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel, and shall strike through the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Sheth.

¹⁸Edom shall be a possession. Seir, his enemies, also shall be a possession, while Israel does valiantly.

¹⁹Out of Jacob shall one have dominion, and shall destroy the remnant from the city."

²⁰He looked at Amalek, and took up his parable, and said, "Amalek was the first of the nations, But his latter end shall come to destruction."

²¹He looked at the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said, "Your dwelling place is strong. Your nest is set in the rock.

²²Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted, until Asshur carries you away captive."

²³He took up his parable, and said, "Alas, who shall live when God does this?

²⁴But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim. They shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber. He also shall come to destruction."

²⁵Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.

¹Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab:

²for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods; and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods.

³Israel joined himself to Baal Peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.

⁴The Lord said to Moses, "Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to the Lord before the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel."

⁵Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor."

⁶Behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

⁷When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand;

⁸and he went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

⁹Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

¹⁰The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹¹"Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in my jealousy.

¹²Therefore say, 'Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace:

¹³and it shall be to him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.'"

¹⁴Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a fathers' house among the Simeonites.

¹⁵The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head of the people of a fathers' house in Midian.

¹⁶The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁷"Harass the Midianites, and strike them;

¹⁸for they harassed you with their wiles, with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor."

¹Look! Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the Lord's house!

²Lift up your hands in the sanctuary. Praise the Lord!

³May the Lord bless you from Zion; even he who made heaven and earth.

¹The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.

²Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death.

³The Lord will not allow the soul of the righteous to go hungry, but he thrusts away the desire of the wicked.

⁴He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth.

⁵He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during the harvest is a son who causes shame.

⁶Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

⁷The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.

⁸The wise in heart accept commandments, but a chattering fool will fall.

⁹He who walks blamelessly walks surely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out.

¹⁰One winking with the eye causes sorrow, but a chattering fool will fall.

¹¹The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

¹²Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all wrongs.

¹³Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has discernment, but a rod is for the back of him who is void of understanding.

¹⁴Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near ruin.

¹⁵The rich man's wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty.

¹⁶The labor of the righteous leads to life. The increase of the wicked leads to sin.

¹⁷He is in the way of life who heeds correction, but he who forsakes reproof leads others astray.

¹⁸He who hides hatred has lying lips. He who utters a slander is a fool.

¹⁹In the multitude of words there is no lack of disobedience, but he who restrains his lips does wisely.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish die for lack of understanding.

²²The Lord's blessing brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.

²³It is a fool's pleasure to do wickedness, but wisdom is a man of understanding's pleasure.

²⁴What the wicked fear, will overtake them, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more; but the righteous stand firm forever.

²⁶As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.

²⁷The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

²⁸The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish.

²⁹The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright, but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.

³⁰The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.

³¹The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

³²The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked is perverse.